What's Left Unspoken
by secretnumber-486
Summary: Akane leaves the house after a fight with Ranma. Who she finds meets along her way will change her life forever, as she discovers the power of three little words.


**What's Left Unspoken**

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Ranma ½ characters, and never will. They will always be the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I do, however, own Sakurako, the demonlady XD

A/N: Hmm… well, this is just a rather spontaneously written story about Ranma and Akane. It's based around the fact that they love each other, but never admit it until the very end of the series, but… hmm… let's pretend that that doesn't happen, shall we? Hope it's okay.. ;;

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It was an average evening at the Tendo's. Except for the fact that the only Tendo currently in the Tendo house was Akane. She was house sitting for the rest of the family, with another certain individual.

"Loser".

"Moron".

"Thick-head".

"Barrel body".

"I don't have a barrel body!"

"And I'm not a girl!"

"I didn't say you were a girl…"

"Uh… oh" .

"AHAH, so that's the line of argument you were scared of! Well, in that case… Ranma… you are such a… GIRL! GIRL! GIRL!"

"I SAID I'm NOT a GIRL!"

splash

"ARGH! AKANE!!"

"Oh, would you look at that. Ranma, what ARE those things coming out of your chest? And where did those hips come from? And, oh my, what feminine hands you have!"

Ranma scowled furiously up at Akane's gloating face.

"God, Akane! Why're you such a pain? All I wanted was a quiet day today, alright? I didn't get any sleep last night thanks to that damn Happosai, and right now I don't need to deal with somebody as impudent and irritating as you!"

Any other girl would have flushed red, kept their mouth shut, turned on their heel and stalked from the room. But Akane Tendo wasn't any other girl.

"Oh, I'm a pain? Well, excuse me, mister 'I-didn't-get-any-sleep-last-night-thanks-to-that-damn-Happosai'! What the hell do you think that I was doing while you two were having your stupid farewell battle or whatever it was? Sleeping? Hah! I would've had to be DEAD to be able to sleep through that! So don't come complaining to me that you got no sleep! I got the same amount as you did, and I was perfectly normal earlier, thank you very much!" Akane crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the man who had caused her to break her cheerful mood.

Ranma tried to do some deep breathing, and started counting backwards from ten. He got to eight. "So this is what you're like when you're perfectly normal? I'd hate to cross you when you're feeling a little crazy! I can't believe I'm stuck with you by myself! Why do I have to see your stupid face every minute of the day?"

Akane didn't miss a beat. "I'm not making you see me all the time! Would you be happy if I just left? Because if it would make you happy and more comfortable, then obviously I'll do it, since making YOU happy is obviously the only thing that I worry about!"

"Yes! That's the stuff that happiness is made of! In fact, you know what'd make me extra happy? It'd make me extra happy if I didn't have to look or talk to you at all for the next two weeks! Why don't you leave?! And you know what? You wonder why more guys aren't interested in you?! Take a look in the mirror! Record the things that come out of your mouth! I'm sure that'll give you your answer! If you keep going like this, I can't imagine anybody wanting you! I don't want you! Nobody's gonna want you, ever!"

With those last comments Ranma, frustrated and exhausted, crossed the line. THE line. The invisible, unspoken, not pre-determined point in every conversation, every argument which, when stepped across, is guaranteed to instill confusion, anger and unspeakable hurt in the receiver. If one steps across the silent contract of the line, there's never anything that can be done to take it back; there's never anything that can be said to repair the damage.

It took Akane a while to process what had just been said. For a second, her mind was completely, blissfully and utterly blank. The words started to come to her, at a creeping pace. Akane's mind worked to comprehend, and the words built up speed, rolling towards her, faster and faster, growing in speed and power. And when they hit her, they hit her with all the force of a tidal wave.

As soon as the words had left his mouth, Ranma knew that he had gone too far. He looked at Akane, who was too busy staring at a spot on the wall just above his head to notice his gaze. Seeing her standing there, arms limp at her sides, with her eyes wide, unseeing, and revealing the hurt that she felt… it made him want to go and bash up the person that had done this to her, like he'd done on many an occasion. But this time… it was a different thing entirely. Any other guy would've walked over and hugged her—would've held her close, and told her that he was sorry, and that what he had said had been completely out of line. But Ranma Saotome wasn't any other guy. Looking at Akane, he just froze up. His mind bombarded him with commands. His mind told him to go over and hug her, told him to apologize, told him to let her cry on his shoulder. But his body wouldn't respond.

He stood by and watched as Akane turned and walked out of the room. He heard the door to her room open, and he heard it close. After a few minutes, she returned with a backpack slung over her shoulder.

"I've got money. I'll see you later". Akane turned her back on Ranma, and walked quietly out of the front door.

After a while, Ranma came to his senses. And everything registered. He'd hurt Akane. Not just insulted her, but actually hurt her. And Akane was… gone.

"Akane…". He ran to the front door, and looked up and down the empty street. And for the first time in his life, he felt an unrecognized feeling stir within him. "Weird…", he thought, "Why am I getting so worked up? She runs out all the time… how is this any different..? It's as though she likes me that much… so why should I care?"

But he hadn't seen the tears running silently down Akane's cheeks as she had pulled the door closed behind her. And he hadn't heard her whispered parting words. "_Why don't you get it…? I love you, you idiot."_

**Meanwhile…**

"That stupid, hateful, no good, inconsiderate jerk!" Akane swiped away angry tears as she ran. "How could he just let me walk out of the house like that? It's getting dark! If something happens to me, then he'll be sorry."

Akane ran blindly, following a road she didn't know, and stopped only when she was out of breath. She looked around, and it dawned on her that it wasn't getting dark. It WAS dark. Not only that, but she didn't know where she was. Akane stood, trying to gauge some direction, when she heard a rustling in the bushes behind her. Springing away, she took a defensive stance, and apprehensively eyed the bushes. A figure emerged and without speaking, began to make its way towards her. Akane was ready to let her fists fly when suddenly, a light shone, and threw everything into relief. The holder of the light was a girl—a girl that Akane could think of no other word to describe, except for 'beautiful'. The girl was tall and slim, with large eyes, pale skin and long hair that shone chocolate brown in the lamplight. She was breathtakingly beautiful… so beautiful, that she almost didn't seem human. She smiled at Akane.

"Have you lost your way?"

Akane considered saying "Well, not really. I walked, well, ran out on this jerk of a guy that I'm currently living with, and since I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going due to my blinding anger, I happened to end up here". But she stuck to something more conventional.

"Um… well, I was out walking, but I lost track of time, and it got dark, and…"

The girl smiled again. "You're lost."

"Well…" Akane sighed. "Yes, I suppose I am".

The girl pursed her lips, as if in thought. "It's pretty late, and if you tried to walk back now, you'd probably get yourself even more lost. This area isn't the easiest place to navigate in the dark. If you'd like, I could put you up for tonight. My place is just across the road there."

Akane could think of a million things wrong with accepting the girl's proposal. _"Okay, for one, she's a stranger. Secondly, she's a stranger who is asking me if I want to stay the night in her house. Thirdly, she's a stranger who is asking me if I want to stay the night in her house, which is in an area that I'm pretty much completely unfamiliar with. And fourthly, it's really dark. More creepy things happen when it's really dark. But… would you rather go crawling back to Ranma?" _

Akane smiled back at the girl. "If you wouldn't mind, that would be great".

"It's no problem whatsoever. And call me Sakurako, um…"

"Akane Tendo".

"Well, Akane Tendo, right this way".

**Meanwhile…**

"Where is that stupid girl?" Ranma paced the floor of his room. "It's pretty dark… wait a second, what do I care? She'll be back soon for sure… she hates being stuck outside in the dark."

But several hours passed, and suddenly, Ranma realized that he was staring at a clock that told him that it was half past four in the morning. And against his will, Ranma was getting really anxious.

"What if she fell in a ditch and knocked herself on the head? Or what if she wandered off somewhere and somebody kidnapped her? Or what if she fainted on the road? Or…" A list of things that could have happened to Akane ran itself through Ranma's mind, and before he knew it, he had worked himself into a frenzy. "Goddamit, Akane, I don't know where you are, but just come home already!"

"_But why do you care?" _, he imagined Akane asking him tauntingly.

"I don't care! I don't! It's just that… if something happened to you, I… I'd…" And in that instant, Ranma realized that if something had happened to Akane that meant that she couldn't come home… that meant that he would never see her, hear her, or argue with her again… what would he do then? Just thinking about it made him feel… helpless. A feeling he didn't often have. And it was definitely a feeling that he didn't like.

Slamming a fist against the wall, he shouted in frustration, "DAMMIT, what the hell is this?! What the hell is wrong with me? Why is it that I'm so worried all of a sudden? Am I going crazy? When did I start caring so much about where Akane is when she leaves the house? When did I start feeling all protective? When did… when did I—"

"_When did I… start… loving her?" _. A voice in the back of his mind finished the sentence.

"I… I… love her…?" Ranma said the words to himself, haltingly, as if he was just seeing how they would sound. "I… love her? I love her."

Silence.

"Dammit, I love her!" And with that, Ranma sprinted to the front door, wrenched it open, and charged down the street, prepared to search the entire country if it meant that he could find Akane and bring her home safely.

He raced around the streets, trying to look for a footprint, a hint that would put him on the right path. He searched every alleyway, every road and every shop that he could see. He paused for a second, slightly out of breath.

"What's with all the young people racing the streets lately? Is it a new trend?", a voice behind him said.

Ranma spun around, and saw the speaker. It was an old fisherman, setting up shop.

"Whaddaya mean, 'all the young people'? There are other people running around at this hour?"

The old man eyed him beadily. "There WAS another person who ran past, young man. But it was last night, not this morning. You know, in my day, someone your age would have been up and helping out with family chores, not running the streets like a madman… tsk."

Ranma stared. Another person had run past here…? A young person…? Was it maybe…

"A girl?!"

"What?" The old man looked at him suspiciously.

"I mean, was the other person you saw… was it a girl?"

"And why should I tell you? If somebody wants to go running, that's their business. I'm in no position to share their personal affairs with a complete stranger".

Restraining the urge to punch the old man from where he stood all the way to America, Ranma reminded himself to be patient. "Look, if it was a girl that you saw, well, she's my… my… she's my housemate. And I'm kinda worried that she'll get lost, okay? So could you please just tell me where you saw her go?"

"Tsk… the irresponsible youth of today… letting a lady roam the streets at such an hour…"

"HAH! So it was a lady!"

The old man glared. "Yes, okay, it was a lady. But that's all you will get out of me, disrespectful child."

Ranma clenched and unclenched his fists, and summoned every last fiber of patience that he possessed.

"Look, I don't care if you think I'm a disrespectful child. Cos I think that you're a frickin' stubborn, irritating old man. And frankly, I don't care what happens to you after we finish this conversation. Cos all I want is to make sure that the girl that you saw is safe. I'm gonna find her one way or another, no matter what you do or don't tell me! So we can do this the hard way, which is where you don't tell me anything, and will probably result in physical injuries on your part, or we can do this the easy way, which is where you tell me what you know, and I leave you alone."

The old fisherman stared pensively at Ranma. "So you're bound and determined to find this lady?"

Ranma squared his shoulders. "I am."

The old man stared at him for a moment longer, before breaking into a smile that made the area around his eyes crinkle. "Haven't seen such an aura of determination in a long while. That's right, my boy. You need to fight for the one that you love."

"I—wait… what?"

The fisherman chuckled. "I can read you like a book, young man. Like a book. No,", he held up a hand to stop Ranma mid-splutter, "We're wasting time now. The lady in question ran that way." He pointed with a crooked forefinger. "But you'd better pray that she wasn't picked up by the demonlady".

"Demon…lady?"

Nodding gravely, the old man's smile vanished. "Aye, the demonlady. Nobody has ever seen her during the day, and rumors say that she prefers to prey on young men, when it's dark outside, so chances are that your lady is safe. But she's a terror, that one. The things that you hear… there's never any sign of physical harm, they say, but the ones she lures in always leave as changed people. They call her Sakurako. Townspeople generally know to stay away from her area."

Ranma could feel his pulse quickening in anxiety. "And where… where does this demonlady live?"

"She lives in that direction, young man. The same direction that your lady friend went. But I told you, there's probably nothing—"

He trailed off at that point, as Ranma was already disappearing into the distance.

**Meanwhile…**

Akane rubbed her eyes, yawning, and checked the clock on the bedside table. Half past four.

"I should get going soon… it's not like I intended to stay out for the whole two weeks… I wonder if Ranma even worried about me last night…" Sighing, she rolled out of bed, changed her clothes, and quickly ran her fingers through her hair. "I should go and thank Sakurako… and pay her, of course…"

She opened the bedroom door, and trudged downstairs. Sakurako was already seated at her kitchen table, with a cup of tea in hand, with another cup set aside for Akane.

"Good morning! I thought you'd be up early. Here, have some tea."

As she poured herself some tea, Akane could feel Sakurako's eyes boring into her. When she looked up, Sakurako was smiling at her. Akane cleared her throat.

"Uh… well, thanks for last night. I'll be off soon, but I can't leave without paying you. What's your charge?"

Sakurako kept smiling. For the first time, Akane felt slightly unsettled.

"Well, Akane, I've picked up a few people like you… you'd be surprised how many individuals stray near here and lose their way… I suppose it's not a well known area… but anyway, no matter whether they stay a night or a week, I charge them all the same."

"How much?"

Sakurako laughed. "It's not money that I'm interested in."

"So how am I supposed to pay you if you don't want money?"

"Akane, Akane. There are many ways to pay people without money. You see… I hold a certain interest for all things supernatural. I'm not quite sure why, but apparently it's a hobby that runs in the family. I've been picking up a few bits and pieces here and there… you know, general curses, incantations, good luck charms and such."

Growing increasingly apprehensive, Akane began to wonder where on earth all of this was leading.

Sakurako continued. "But the one thing that I've found a real talent for is thieving. Not normal, meaningless things like jewelry and trinkets and such… I like to take only the thing that a person wants the most. It's not a big ask, really. Nothing else will be affected. Do you agree to my terms?"

Akane stared. Was this girl for real? She made an attempt to buy herself some time to think. "I… well, isn't there any other way that I can pay you…?"

Sakurako's smile became slightly more menacing, and her eyes hardened. "Can't say that there is. You see, if you don't agree to my terms, I'll be forced to curse you. And it won't be a nice curse, of course. The people who have denied me have always regretted it."

A bead of sweat slid down the side of Akane's face. "_I want to see Ranma", _she thought to herself. "_He'd know what to do…" _And without her noticing, a tear spilled from the corner of her eye.

"Ah, now, there's no need to get teary. Like I said, it's an easy thing to give up. There are always plenty more options out there." Sakurako laughed, and it was a shrill, manic sound that chilled Akane's heart. "You must choose. Or else I shall have to force an answer out of you. Quick!"

Realizing that the girl was not joking, Akane desperately weighed her options. "_If I let her curse me… who knows what she'd do?! Sakurako's crazy! What if she turned me into something awful? What if she made it so that everyone I care about dies? I'd never see Dad, or my sisters, or Ranma ever again… never see… Ranma again…? No…I couldn't have him taken away from me… he's… he's…the one I've always loved. But if I let her take the 'one thing that I want the most'… well, I actually can't think of anything that I want the most! So therefore there's nothing there! And she can't steal something that's nothing there. She can't go back on her terms. An agreement's an agreement. So maybe…" _

Akane looked across the table at her captor, who was smirking slightly at her obvious discomfort. Crossing her arms defiantly, Akane gave her answer. "Fine. Take what you want. I'd rather have you do that than curse me."

"Are you sure about that?"

Akane sighed in frustration. "Obviously I'm not sure! Obviously I don't know what I'm doing! Obviously I've never been in a situation like this before! But I've made my choice. So just hurry up and let me go!"

Sakurako grinned joylessly, her eyes cold. "Very well."

Akane clenched her fists, bracing herself for any pain. But all she felt was a gust of warm air blow across her body, tossing her hair around and ruffling her clothes.

"Thank you. You're no longer indebted. And you're free to go."

"But what have you done to me?" Akane demanded.

"Taken the one thing that you want the most, so that you'll never be able to reclaim it, even if you try. But what that is exactly I won't say. It'd ruin all the fun, don't you think?"

Akane glared at her. "Fine." And she whirled around, wrenched open the front door, and ran as fast as she could away from the house of nightmares. When she was a good distance down the dirt track, she tested her body. She jumped as high as she could, checked her reflexes, her eyesight, her pulse, the color of her hair, and the function of each limb. Everything seemed to be in working order. Akane breathed a sigh. "_Maybe I don't have to worry about anything after all. Maybe there was nothing there for her to steal." _Just as the thought crossed her mind, she saw a cloud of dust further down the path.

"What the…?"

It appeared to be moving closer. Squinting, she could make out a figure in the middle of the haze.

"Who in the world…?"

Finally, she recognized who it was.

"Ranma…?" She dropped to the ground, and suddenly, all of her pent up emotions overflowed. Tears ran down her face, and she saw them leave tiny, dark spots on the dirt.

"AKANE?" Ranma slid onto the ground beside her. "What's wrong? What happened? And where the hell have you been?"

"Ranma, I… it was… she took… she took something…"

Ranma froze. No… it couldn't be. "Akane, who's 'she'?"

"Sakurako! Sakurako, she took… she said she took…"

Ranma held Akane's shaking shoulders. "Look at me. What did she take from you?"

"I don't know!" Akane cried. "She said that she took the thing that I want the most! But… But I don't feel any different! I don't think that anything's changed! Maybe there was nothing there for her to take. Maybe something went wrong. Maybe—"

She couldn't finish her sentence, as Ranma had leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her. "Just as long as you're safe… that's all I care about right now."

Fresh tears seeped from Akane's eyes, and soaked into Ranma's shirt.

"Akane, I… I'm sorry for earlier. I… I had no right to say that stuff to you. And… I didn't mean what I said. And…"

"I know. And I'm sorry, too."

"Stupid, what have you got to be sorry for?" Ranma mentally punched himself for calling her stupid without thinking. "I mean… You didn't do anything wrong."

"I did. I should've realized that you weren't in the mood to be teased…"

"No, I'm serious. You haven't got anything to apologize for."

Akane pulled back from his embrace, and looked at him curiously. "But… why are you out here? How did you know that I was here?"

Ranma sighed. "I've been looking everywhere for you. When you weren't home at four thirty, I went out to look for you."

"Hang on. But I leave the house all the time, and – "

"I KNOW, but…" Ranma stopped, suddenly blushing.

Without thinking, Akane reached over and put a hand on his cheek. "Hm? What is it?"

Ranma took a deep breath. "This time was different because… I realized that maybe I… well, I suppose it was there all along, but I just… for some reason I… it might have had something to do with the fact that I… um…"

Akane suddenly felt that her heart was racing at an abnormal pace. And she thought that maybe she had a small, impossible idea of what Ranma was leading to.

Ranma continued. "Um… it's just that… I couldn't…" He sighed in frustration. "It's because that maybe… I think that I might… maybe… possibly… well, I am. I was so worried about you this time because… I realized that… maybe… that I love you. And I couldn't let anything happen to you."

Akane stared at him with wide eyes. He… he loved her? Ranma loved her? He really… after all… he loved her? And suddenly, it was as though she had opened her eyes and seen blue sky for the first time. He loved her. Ranma loved her. She could feel the corners of her mouth tipping into a smile. "_This is what I've needed to say for so long,", _she laughed to herself, "_This is all I need, forever. Just to be able to say these words to him. It's all I want". _

Blushing deeply, she looked up at the man that she loved with all her heart. She tried to calm her pounding heart, took a deep breath, and opened her mouth to say the words that she'd left unspoken for so long. "Ranma, I—"

But she couldn't continue. Her throat froze, and no matter how hard she shouted the words in her head, they wouldn't allow themselves to be said. _"What?!" _she screamed inwardly. "_What's going on?!"_

A figure stepped lithely onto the road behind Ranma, out of his line of vision. Sakurako. Her mouth curled into a malicious smile. She crossed her arms, clearly enjoying Akane's confusion and panic. They locked eyes. And as abruptly as she had appeared, Sakurako was gone.

And suddenly, Akane understood. Time slowed to a crawl. For a second, she couldn't feel Ranma's arms around her. She could see the intense concern in his eyes, and could see his mouth moving, but couldn't make out the words. The world faded except for the one, excruciatingly painful thought in her mind. She knew. Akane knew what Sakurako had taken from her. It wasn't a material item. It wasn't anything physical. Sakurako had taken something that Akane hadn't even thought of. She had taken away an ability.

The world returned to normal speed. Akane could hear Ranma. "_What's wrong? What happened just then? Are you gonna faint?"_

Tears welled in her eyes as she looked at the person that she cared about more than anything. She saw the panic in Ranma's eyes as she laid her head down on the dirt road, the tears falling thick and heavy. Again and again, her mind shouted out to him. But Ranma kept checking her pulse and massaging her joints, hearing nothing. Akane sobbed uncontrollably, and reached for Ranma, trying to make him understand. She would never be able to say those words to him. He would never hear what her mind was screaming, over and over. She knew that when she calmed down enough to explain to him, that he'd understand. She knew that he'd accept. But it was little comfort, when she also knew that Ranma would never hear the words that were running over and over through her head; the words that she needed to say more than anything; the words that she meant with all her heart.

"_I love you, too". _

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Uhh, that's it! I realize that the characters are somewhat out of character and all, but… well, what's fanfiction for, after all? XD

I also realize that my writing isn't great, and I already know that, so please, no flames v.v

Thanks for reading


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